Johnson spent the summer of 1988 with Palm Beach Stingrays of the United States Basketball League. In 43 games, Johnson averaged 1.6 points and 1.7 assists as a reserve. Johnson also played in six playoff games for the Stingrays.[4]

In the 1989–90 season, Johnson played 53 games with 10 starts for the Seattle SuperSonics. He made 18 assists on January 5, 1990 against the Miami Heat.[4]

On October 24, 1990, the SuperSonics traded Johnson to the Denver Nuggets for a conditional pick in the 1997 NBA draft. After playing 21 games, Johnson was waived from the Nuggets in December before signing with the San Antonio Spurs on January 17, 1991. Johnson played 47 games with seven starts for the Spurs and averaged 9.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.[4]

In the beginning of the 1991–92 season, Johnson played 20 games and averaged 5.0 points and 6.8 assists for the Spurs before being waived in December. On January 10, 1992, Johnson signed the first of several 10-day contracts with the Houston Rockets that preceded a longer-term contract. Johnson scored a then-career-high 22 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 28.[4]

Signed as an unrestricted free agent, Johnson returned to the Spurs on November 19, 1992. Promoted to starter, Johnson averaged 8.7 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 7.5 assists and improved his field goal percentage to .502 in 75 games. In the playoffs, Johnson averaged 8.2 points and 8.1 assists.[4]

Johnson signed with the Golden State Warriors on October 25, 1993 and was named team captain just nine days into his signing. Starting 70 of 82 games, Johnson reached a new career high 10.9 points per game along with 5.3 assists per game.[4]

Johnson is best known for his time with the Spurs from 1994 to 2001, and particularly his integral role on the 1998–99 Spurs team that won the NBA championship against the New York Knicks. Most notably, Johnson made the go-ahead, championship-clinching shot in Game 5 on a jumper with 47 seconds remaining in the game.[5] The Spurs retired Johnson's number 6 on December 22, 2007.[6] He was also inducted into the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame on February 20, 2009.[7]

On July 19, 2001, Johnson signed as a free agent with the Denver Nuggets. Johnson played 51 games (13 starts) with the Nuggets and averaged 9.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists.[8] The Nuggets traded Johnson and three other players to the Dallas Mavericks on February 21, 2002. Johnson played 17 games all as a reserve with the Mavericks for the rest of the season.[8]

In the 2002–03 season, Johnson played in 48 games as a reserve for the Mavericks, averaging 9.0 minutes per game. Johnson ended his NBA career in the 2003–04 season back with the Golden State Warriors. He played 46 games with one start and averaged 4.6 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.[8]

On October 28, 2004, Johnson retired from playing and signed as an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks under Don Nelson. Johnson had played under Nelson from 2001 to 2003, and it was understood from the beginning that he was being groomed to eventually succeed Nelson as head coach. His transition from assistant to head coach came five months later on March 19, 2005, after Nelson resigned.

Under Johnson, the Mavericks closed out the 2004–05 season with a 16–2 run and a first-round playoff victory over the Houston Rockets, before being eliminated by the Phoenix Suns in the second round of the playoffs. Johnson was named the April 2005 NBA Coach of the Month, only one month after becoming a head coach for the first time.

The 2005–06 season was even more successful for Johnson and was marked by a series of milestones. In November 2005, Johnson won his second NBA Coach of the Month award (which was also his second consecutive award, following the one he had won in April the previous season), making him the first NBA coach to win the award in his first two months as a head coach. On January 28, 2006, when the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Utah Jazz, Johnson's record as head coach improved to 50–12, making Johnson the fastest coach to reach 50 wins. In February 2006, he was chosen to coach the 2006 NBA All-Star team for the Western Conference. Although Johnson ultimately led the Mavericks to the second-best record in the Western Conference, the team entered the playoffs as the fourth seed in the West due to the structure of the 2006 NBA Playoffs seeding. In April 2006, Johnson was rewarded for his success throughout the season with the 2006 NBA Coach of the Year Award.

On December 31, 2006, Johnson became the fastest head coach (at the time) to win 100 games when his squad defeated the Denver Nuggets. This record was later broken by Tom Thibodeau and the Chicago Bulls. In the 2006–07 season, Johnson's Mavericks had the best record in the NBA with 67 wins and entered the playoffs as the top seed. However, his Mavericks lost to the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors, led by former Mavericks head coach Don Nelson, in one of the biggest upsets in recent NBA history.

With the Mavs' win over the Grizzlies on November 18, 2007, Johnson became the fastest coach to reach 150 wins. Following the 2007–08 season, the Mavericks under Johnson were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row. A day later, on April 30, 2008, Johnson was dismissed as head coach of the Mavericks and replaced by former NBA Coach of the Year, Rick Carlisle.[9][10][11]

On June 10, 2010, Johnson was hired as head coach of the New Jersey Nets,[13] which had just finished a dismal 2009–10 campaign with a 12–70 record. In his first year as coach of the Nets, the team improved slightly, doubling its win total from the previous season and finishing 24–58. However, the next year saw no such improvement, as his team went 22–44 in the lockout-shortened season.

Johnson remained with the Nets when the team moved to Brooklyn in 2012. He was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for October and November 2012 following an 11–4 start to the season. Despite that early success, the team went on to lose ten of its next 13 games, and subsequently Johnson was fired from his head coaching position on December 27, 2012.[14][15]

On April 5, 2015, ESPN reported that Johnson had verbally agreed to become the new head basketball coach at the University of Alabama, replacing Anthony Grant.[17] The following day, the university officially announced Johnson's hiring as the school's 21st men's basketball coach.[18] After losing in the first round of the 2019 National Invitation Tournament, Alabama and Johnson agreed to mutually part ways.[19]

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas, Texas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home games at the American Airlines Center, which it shares with the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars.

Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the Denver Larks in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association (ABA), but changed its name to Rockets before the first season. It changed its name again to the Nuggets in 1974. After the name change, the Nuggets played for the final ABA Championship title in 1976, losing to the New York Nets.

Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German retired professional basketball player. An alumnus of Röntgen Gymnasium and the DJK Würzburg basketball club, Nowitzki was chosen as the ninth pick in the 1998 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he played his entire 21-year National Basketball Association (NBA) career. In the NBA, he won the league Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 2007, was an NBA champion in 2011, and was a 14-time All-Star.

Jason Kidd

Jason Frederick Kidd is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He most recently served as a head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and is currently an assistant coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Previously a point guard in the NBA, Kidd was a 10-time NBA All-Star, a five-time All-NBA First Team member, and a nine-time NBA All-Defensive Team member. He won an NBA Championship in 2011 as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, and was a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner during his pro career, as part of Team USA in 2000 and 2008. He was inducted as a player into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Rick Carlisle

Richard Preston Carlisle is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. As a player, Carlisle played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. He is also one of only 11 people to win an NBA championship both as a player and as a coach.

Robert Horry

Robert Keith Horry is an American retired basketball player and current sports commentator. He played 16 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning seven championships, the most of any player not to have played on the 1960s Boston Celtics. He is one of only two players to have won NBA championships with three teams: two with the Houston Rockets, three with the Los Angeles Lakers and two with the San Antonio Spurs. He earned the nickname Big Shot Bob because of his clutch shooting in important games; he is widely considered to be one of the greatest clutch performers and winners in NBA history. Horry now works as a commentator on Spectrum SportsNet.

Andre Miller

Andre Lloyd Miller is a former American professional basketball player. Miller has played professional basketball for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and San Antonio Spurs. Currently, he ranks tenth all-time in NBA career assists and only missed three games to injury in his 17-year career. He's the only player in NBA history to have at least 16,000 career points, 8,000 assists and 1,500 steals without making an NBA All-Star Game.

Nick Van Exel

Nickey Maxwell Van Exel is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Van Exel played for six NBA teams from 1993 through 2006. He was an NBA All-Star with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1998.

Kiki VanDeWeghe

Ernest Maurice "Kiki" VanDeWeghe III is an American basketball executive. He serves as the Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations of the National Basketball Association (NBA). VanDeWeghe is a retired professional basketball player and was formerly the general manager of the Denver Nuggets and the New Jersey Nets, and a head coach of the Nets.

Deron Williams

Deron Michael Williams is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Illinois Fighting Illini before being drafted third overall in the 2005 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz. The three-time NBA All-Star has also played for Beşiktaş of the Turkish Basketball League during the 2011 NBA lockout, and was a gold medal winner on the United States national team at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.

Devin Harris

Devin Lamar Harris is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harris attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Harris was selected with the fifth pick in the 2004 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards.

Wilson Chandler

Wilson Chandler is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has previously played for Zhejiang Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2011 NBA lockout and the NBA's New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets. He played college basketball at DePaul University for two years before declaring for the 2007 NBA draft, where he was a first-round selection of the Knicks. Chandler is listed at 6 ft 8 in. and 225 lbs. He can play both forward positions. Chandler has great leaping ability, finishes well at the basket, and an improving mid-range jumper.

George Hill (basketball)

George Jesse Hill Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). While playing for Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) he received many honors, including Summit League Player of the Year and was an honorable mention All-American his junior season. He was selected 26th overall by the San Antonio Spurs in the 2008 NBA draft.

Byron Scott

Byron Anton Scott is an American professional basketball former head coach and player. He last coached the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a player, he won three NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era in the 1980s.

Nikola Jokić

Nikola Jokić is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He also represents the Serbian national basketball team internationally. Standing at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), he plays at the center position. He was selected with the 41st overall pick by the Denver Nuggets in the 2014 NBA draft. He received his first All-Star selection in 2019.